An ink jet recording head comprises pressure chambers that generate ink pressure using piezoelectric elements or heat-generating elements, an ink chamber that supplies ink to the pressure chambers, and nozzles that eject ink from the pressure chambers. The pressure is generated by applying driving signals to the elements in accordance with printing signals, whereby ink drops are made to fly out from the nozzles onto a recording medium. In particular, with an ink jet recording head that uses piezoelectric elements, heat is not used, and hence there are advantages such as degradation of the ink being not prone to occurring, and clogging being not prone to occurring.
With such an ink jet recording head that uses piezoelectric elements, with an aim of improving the ink ejecting characteristics given by the piezoelectric films, efforts have been made to obtain good characteristics by making the piezoelectric films have a particular composition, crystal orientation or the like. For example, the inventors have discovered that PZT having a 100 plane orientation degree of 70% or more exhibits good characteristics.
However, it is not easy to manufacture piezoelectric films having a particular crystal orientation or the like. Moreover, if the crystal orientation or the like is limited to being a particular one, then the flexibility of material selection is narrowed. Consequently, if it were possible to obtain targeted good characteristics even with, for example, PZT having a 100 plane orientation degree of less than 70%, then the effects of this would be great.
It is thus an object of the present invention to provide a liquid-ejecting apparatus according to which targeted good characteristics can be obtained, and moreover the scope for material selection can be broadened.